Affero GPL. Badgeware?
Forrest J. Cavalier III
mibsoft at mibsoftware.com
Thu Mar 21 06:22:09 UTC 2002
"Free Software Foundation Announces Support of the Affero General
Public License, the First Copyleft License for Web Services"
http://www.fsf.org/press/2002-03-19-Affero.html
I think clause Affero GPL 2(d) provides for the propagation of
"badgeware", meaning that it obligates propagation of a brand
or mark. The important bit is "you must not remove that facility."
I find that this 2(d) operates much differently than GPL 2(c).
GPL clause 2(c) obligates providing "a" run-time notice
under certain conditions. In other words, 2(c) does not specify that a
_specific_ notice is to be preserved. In contrast, Affero 2(d) does.
How does this work in practice? If there is a "download" graphic, I
think the only way to comply is that you keep the graphic. If there
is a paragraph with superfluous marketing, you must keep paragraph. This
lets the originator insert branding and propaganda, and forces it to be
propagated. This is unnecessary.
I suggest that software freedom is preserved fully if you delete the
part of 2(d) I placed in brackets below. I hold that that bracketed
text is an unnecessary compromise of freedom, serves no useful purpose
except to promote branding, and should be removed before this
license gets the full support of the Free Software Movement.
In making the deletion, some further adjustment may be necessary, so that
the important text "modified version of the Program or work based on the Program"
appears.
(the funny word spacing comes directly from the HTML.)
* d) If the Program as you received
it is intended to interact with users through a computer network
and if, in the version you received, any user interacting with the
Program was given the opportunity to request transmission to that
user of the Program's complete source code, you
[must not remove that
facility from your modified version of the Program or work based on
the Program, and]
must offer an equivalent opportunity for all users
interacting with your Program through a computer network to request
immediate transmission by HTTP of the complete source code of your modified
version or other derivative work.
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